Golf tee dispensing package



May Z9, 1956 A. w. RAlNEs GOLF TEE DISPENSING PACKAGE Filed April l5, 1954 R O T N E V m ./len Wlazlnes @uw we@ ATToRNE United States Patent O GOLF TEE DISPENSING PACKAGE Allen W. Raines, Woodside, N. Y.

lApplication April 15, 1954, Serial No. 423,352

2 Claims. (Cl. 221;'2'5) My invention relates particularly to golf tees, and packages of the same from which the tees may be applied in playing the game of golf.

An object of my invention is to provide golf tees which individually, as well as when assembled together, may be used in succession for expediting the playing of golf.

Another object is to provide golf tees which may be assembled in a nested group and which maybe withdrawn individually automatically when they are inserted in the ground for supporting the golf ball preparatory to stroking the same.

Another object is to make use of the assembled group of golf tees as a manual means for enabling the outermost tee of the group to `be inserted in the ground. A further object is to so hold the group of tees together that not only can the end tee be inserted in the ground, but in such a way that the next tee of the assembled group is left or brought into position for its convenient insertion into the ground.

Another object is to construct the tees in such a manner that they may be readily withdrawn in succession from the assembled group thereof. Also, another object is to provide a conformation on the outside of the tees such as to hold the tees firmly in the ground and thereby facilitate the separation of the golf tees successively from one another.

While my invention is capable of embodiment in many dilerent forms, for the purpose of illustration I have shown only certain forms thereof in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an assembly of manually dispensible golf tees made in accordance with my invention;

, Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical section of the same;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section of a golf tee comprised therein;

Fig. 4 is an elevation of a modified assembly of golf tees made in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section of the golf tee assembly in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical section of one of the tee-holding catches in Figs. 4 and 5; and

Fig. 7 is a vertical section, enlarged, of a modified form of one of the tee-holding catches, which may be utilized in the assembly in Figs. 4 and 5.

In the drawings, referring first to the golf tees and the assembly thereof in Figs. l to 3, I have provided a golf tee 1, which may be made of any desired plastic or thin metal, such as aluminum or magnesium or any alloys of either or both of said metals with or without any other metal. The said tees 1 are made with a central tapered cavity 2 so that they may be nested together, with spacing at the top for ready removal, into an assembly 3 having any desired number of tees, for instance 18. Preferably, the tees 1 are made into the shape of slightly concave cones, asshown in Fig. 3, thus providing sharply tapered stems 5 at the `lower ends 2,747,768 Patented May 29, 1956 thereof. Also, the internal cavity 2 may be connected to the outer air by one or more holes 6 to prevent suction between adjacent tees, thus making them readily removable from one another, also to retain the tees 1 more firmly upright in the ground. The firmness of the position of the tee in the ground may be aided, also, by providing corrugations 7 around the same, which may be annular or circular if desired. As shown in Fig. 2, these tees 1 may be arranged in a nested assembly 3, in which they are held together by a transparent cellophane tape 8, such as Scotch tape, spirally wound thereon and held together by an inner coating of any adhesive, such as cellulose acetate dissolved in any type of solvent to make the cellulose acetate adherentl to itself in the overlapping windings thereof and to the golf tees 1 enclosed thereby. This forms a stiff strong unitary assembly 9 of the golf tees and tape which is suiiiciently resistant or rigid, to maintain its shape, when the assembly is manually pushed downwardly to insert the lowermost tee 1 into the ground, after having unwound the tape 8 sufciently to uncover at least a portion of the upper outer periphery of said lowermost tee 1. Preferably, when inserting the lowermost tee 1 into the ground, however, the tape 8 will still contact with some part, for instance 1/s, of the upper periphery of said golf tee, so as to retain the tee 1 on the assembly 9 until the tee has been forced into the ground, but only so lightly as to readily permit the release thereof from the ground-held tee when the assembly 9 is pulled upwardly therefrom. Preferably, the tape 8 will always have an inturned nonsticky end 10, more or less long according to the number of tees remaining in the assembly 9, adherent to the main body of the tape 3 at all times to make the tape end readily releasable from the succeeding tees. However, the individual tees 1 may be removed and inserted separatelyin the ground, if de,- sired.

As shown in Figs. 4 to 6, I have provided an alternative form of the invention, by providing a cylindrical holder 11, in the form of a barrel or tube made of any of the above materials, transparent or otherwise. The holder I1 may have between its ends a slot 12 through which the assembly 3 of nested tees 1 can be seen, wherein they are being continually forced toward the lower end of the holder 11 by a conical plunger 13 on a rod 14 forced downwardly by a light helical spring 15, secured at its lower end to the plunger 13 and at its vupper end within a cylindrical cavity 16 in the interior of a rounded cap 17 screw-threaded within the upper end of the holder 11, and which may be enlarged at its central portion for guidance in the holder 11. At its lower end the holder 11 has three or more equidistant notches 18, into each of which there projects the lower end of a spring 19, the upper end 20 of each of which is fastened or riveted to the side of the holder 11. This leaves the lower end of the spring 19 to be formed into a downwardly inclined long lip 21 which normally fits below the upper rim of the lowermost tee 1, as shown in Fig. 6. Adjacent to this lip 21 there is an angular thrust surface 22 formed on the spring, against which the upper rim of the lowermost tee 1 is supported when the latter is being pushed into the ground, by manually forcing the holder 11 downwardly. It will be noted that the thrust surface or bearing 22 terminates inwardly in a short lip 23 which is not quite as long in a horizontal direction as the lip 21. Adjacent to the inner edge of the lip 23 the spring 19 is provided with an inner gently inclined guiding surface 24 which extends through the slot 1S for guiding the adjacent tee into the lowermost position when the lowermost tee is being withdrawn after being inserted into the ground.

In Fig. 7, I have shown a modification of the catch 19 of Fig. 6, in accordance with which a spring 25, provided in each of the notches 18, is fastened or riveted at its upper end 27 to the side of the holder 11 and has a long lip 28 at the lower end, like the lip 21, but is provided, also, just above the lip 28 with an inwardly extending rivet or cam 29 having an angular flat thrust surface or bearing 30, like the surface 22, and an upwardly inclined guiding surface 31, like the inclined surface 24. Otherwise, the holder 11 and assembly 3 are constructed and arranged the same as in the preceding Figs. 4 to 6.

In the operation of my invention, referring first to Figs. 1 to 3, the golf tee assembly 9, in Figs. 1 to 3, acts as a handle for forcing the lowermost tee 1 into the ground after having unwound the tape 8 sufficiently to uncover some or nearly all of the upper periphery of the lowermost tee 1. When this tee has been forced into the ground, the frictional contact of the tee with the latter, due to the holes 6 and corrugations 7, and with the contacting portion of the tape 8, will leave the tee firmly in the ground but enable it to be released from the assembly 9 merely by withdrawing the latter upwardly. As further tees are needed they can be similarly removed in succession from the assembly 9. Also, if desired, under any unusual conditions, any one or more of the tees 1 can be removed and inserted into the ground, after removal from the assembly 9. Meanwhile, the residual tees in the assembly 9 are held together in the smallest and most compact orderly form for carrying the same by the golfer in any desired pocket of the clothing or golf bag. Y

In Figs. 4 to 6, the operation is substantially the same, but the holder 11 always has the same length notwithstanding the number of tees remaining therein, which can always be observed through the slot 12 or through the transparent plastic. At all times, the nested tees 1, which may be inserted into the holder 11 from the top or bottom, but preferably the latter, are forced down to the lower end of the holder by the light spring 15, so that the lowermost tee 1 has its rim resting just above the long lip 21 against the grasping thrust bearing 22, while the next tee has its rirn located above the shorter lip 23. When the lowermost tee 1 is forced into the ground, an upward pull on the holder 11 will force the long lips 21 past the rim of the lower tee 1, and this will automatically cause the short lips 23 to clear the margin of the next tee, which will then fall into position above the long lip 21, thus becoming the lowermost tee', in position ready to be discharged from the holder 11. The inward downward angularity of the thrust bearing 22 prevents each spring 19 from being dislocated or forced outwardly in a lateral direction while the lowermost tee is being inserted in the ground.

The modified spring 25, in Fig. 7, operates in substantially the same way as just described, the long lip 31 acting in the same way as the long lip 21 and the short lip formed by the surfaces 30 and 31 acting like the short lip 23.

While I have described my invention above in detail l wish it to be understood that many changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the same.

I claim:

1. An assembly of nested golf tees, each tee having a stem and an internal longitudinally tapered and curved cavity having a wall which is of substantially the same thickness throughout so that the stem of another like tee is received in said cavity with the adjacent curved tee surfaces spaced apart at the upper portions of said tees, the stems having spaced circular unevennesses, and means frictionally engaging and adhesively contacting and holding the tees together releasable from the lowermost tee by longitudinal frictional engagement of the latter with the ground, said means comprising an outer casing of adhesive tape having self-overlapping adhesive margins adherent on themselves.

2. An assembly of nested golf tees, each tee having a stem and an internal longitudinally tapered and curved cavity having a wall which is of substantially the same thickness throughout so that the stem of another like tee is received in said cavity with the adjacent curved tee surfaces spaced apart at the upper portions of said tees, the stems having spaced circular unevennesses, and means frictionally engaging and adhesively contacting and holding the tees together releasable from the lowermost tee by longitudinal frictional engagement of the latter with the ground, said means comprising an outer casing of adhesive tape having self-overlapping adhesive margins adherent on themselves, the walls of said tees having holes therethrough to prevent suction between adjacent tees.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 979,381 Conery Dec. 20, 1910 1,310,699 Hill July 22, 1919 1,538,173 Daughaday May 19, 1925 1,588,815 Sillcocks June 15, 1926 1,679,579 Lundy Aug. 7, 1928 1,682,933 Potts Sept. 4, 1928 1,730,046 Stow Oct. 1, 1929 1,971,075 Lockwood Aug. 21, 1934 2,073,328 Wasserlein Mar. 9, 1937 2,272,920 Merta Feb. 10, 1942 2,670,076 Monks Feb. 23,1954 

